Japanese Cooking: Truffle Wagyu Don with Fail-Proof Onsen Egg Recipe

Over the weekend, Sean and I decided to try putting together a wagyu rice bowl topped with shaved truffles and an onsen egg. This is a wonderful idea for if you have leftover sushi rice like I mentioned in my DIY Sushi Recipe post. If you’d like tips on how to cook delicious sushi rice, do check it out!

Onsen eggs might look unassuming, but are actually notoriously difficult to get right. Traditionally made in Japanese hot springs, It takes a lot of precision in temperature, amount of water used and even where the eggs are positioned in the pot while cooking. It was quite intimidating just looking at the number of technical tips out there but we actually did pretty good for a first try, although it wasn’t without a lot of careful research before our attempt.

So.. let’s start with the winning recipe for our onsen egg (:

Heat a pot full of water and bring to a rolling boil. Use a small pot for 1-2 eggs and a large pot for 3-4 eggs.

Remove from the heat, wait 1 minute, and put the cold eggs into the water. Do not cover with a lid. Wait 12 minutes. Keep the eggs separated. After putting them into the hot water, don’t move them about.

After 12 minutes, remove the eggs from the pot and cool in ice cold water. Even if the outside of the egg is cool the middle is still hot and = liquid, so be careful! Make sure to cool for 5-10 minutes it has completely cooled all the way through, and it’s done.

Gently crack the egg open right into the container. The contents of the egg will roll right out. If you crack it open from a height the egg white will separate from the yolk, so please be careful.

And voila! You have a beautiful runny onsen egg. This really is a fool-proof recipe because while we were prepared to try this on a whole carton of eggs, we got it right on our first three so definitely recommend following this to a T.

Once the eggs are ready, let’s start to cook the beef. We used A3 Wagyu from the supermarket but any beef will do really if you’re not particular. We just decided to treat ourselves a little on Sunday (:

Simply marinate the beef in light salt and pepper. Then, in a heated pan with a little olive oil, sear the beef to your preferred doneness. We just did a quick sear since the slices were pretty thin and we didn’t want to overcook. Then dip in your favourite beef sauce, we went for a niniku garlic soy glaze and place the slices on top of the cooked rice.

Lastly, add the onsen egg and top with shaved truffle, nori (seaweed) and spring onion and you’re ready to serve! Simple isn’t it?

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and that the onsen egg worked out for you too. It’s a great way to sous vide your egg without a machine and also goes great with any rice dish or even with toast in the mornings! Have fun and as always, good luck! x